1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to magnetic tape recorders, especially to those designed for use in continuous duty, data logging applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Voice-activated, voice logging recorders are widely used in monitoring police, fire and aircraft communications and business and government meetings. Typically, such recorders have utilized reel-to-reel tape decks generally installed in pairs so that the second deck starts automatically in the event the first deck becomes inoperative.
The convenience of tape decks adapted to use magnetic recording tape preloaded in magazines such as the popular "Philips" type cassettes has resulted in such decks dominating the audio recorder market. This convenience, particularly as it relates to compactness, ease of loading, ready storage, and identification of contents would make it desirable to use preloaded magazines or cassettes in voice logging recorders as well.
However, typical cassette recorders lack the reliability which is mandatory in voice logging recorders where the loss of any data cannot be tolerated. While many improvements are being made to enhance their reliability, both in the cassettes themselves and in the associated drive mechanisms, semi-reliable audio cassette recorders have not been considered to be acceptable for voice logging operations. This is due to the fact that the tape in such cassettes is not readily evident, such that an operator may insert a cassette without determining whether the tape is fully rewound onto the supply spool or whether a leader portion is exposed. Similarly, the tape within the cassette may become twisted such that the oxide layer is facing the wrong direction.
Typically, the operator does not know that a recording has been made until replay is attempted at a later time, at which time it is too late to correct an inoperative condition such that incoming data may thus be permanently lost.